'Billions of pounds were wasted' on NHS reforms, King's Fund claims

Ministers have estimated that the cost of implementing policies in the legislation was £1.5 billion.

17:28 06 February 2015

The King’s Fund has claimed that health reforms cost NHS billions of pounds that could have been spent on improving patient care. It added that the Government’s controversial shake-up of the NHS was “damaging and distracting” as well as “misguided” and “not fit for purpose.”

However, it said that there had been significant change as Jeremy Hunt works on limiting the damage and will "welcome shift away from technocratic changes".

The report titled The NHS Under the Coalition Government also said that claims of “widespread privatization” are exaggerated.

Chris Ham, chief executive of The King's Fund, said: "Historians will not be kind in their assessment of the coalition government's record on NHS reform.

"The first three years of the coalition Government were wasted years because of the misguided focus on organisational changes that only recently has been compensated by this renewed emphasis on safety,quality and greater integration of care.

"Billions of pounds will have been wasted on those misguided reforms.

"The NHS therefore at the end of the parliament is experiencing both financial pressures and challenges in hitting targets that matter to patients because time, effort and money that should have been spent on patient care has been diverted into complex organisational changes."